Saying giving birth is extremely painful would be a gross understatement.
Thankfully, some women are able to opt for medication, like an epidural, to get pain relief during childbirth. However, others still prefer the natural, unmedicated approach to labor, which is why the number of water births has gone up over the last couple of years.
According to Michelle Collins, C.N.M., an assistant professor of nursing at the Vanderbilt University School of Nursing who specializes in nurse-midwifery, the majority of women who have given birth under water report that their pain was reduced by 50 percent.
Turns out, “there is a chemical and hormonal response that adjusts the level of the hormone oxytocin, which pumps from the brain and helps regulate the intensity of the contractions.”
This form of delivery is also believed to be less stressful for both the mom and the baby, it can also lower the risk of fetal complications, as well as the “severity of tearing.”
There are special pools made just for women who choose to give birth under water at the hospital or at home, but rarely will you see someone actually deliver their baby in the middle of the sea, like one tourist recently did.
An unidentified women, believed to be from Russia, gave birth in the Red Sea with the help of a doctor who specializes in water births and her husband.
Hadia Hosny El Said, spotted the trio from her the balcony of her uncle’s hotel and took photos of the unforgettable scene. It’s now caught the attention of the world.
The photos show the father and doctor carrying the newborn out of the water in the coastal town of Dahab, Egypt.
Other images of the mom as well as the baby with its attached umbilical cord and the placenta in a plastic container were also shared on Facebook. They have since been taken down, but not before they went viral.
People who were on the beach at the time told local media that they had no idea that this would happen because the woman appeared to have been been going for a swim in her bikini before giving birth.
Proponents of water birth praised the “easiness” and “beauty” of the delivery in the comments on Facebook.
One social media user jokingly wrote, “The sea was really red that day!”
According to the New York Post, Dahab, once a fishing village, has seen a rise in the number of women visiting in hopes of giving birth in the seawater.
The media outlets weren’t able to chat with the couple or the doctor, so it’s unclear what the baby’s gender or condition is at this time.
Hopefully, there will be an update sooner than later.
Blair isn’t a bestselling author, but she has a knack for beautiful prose. When she isn’t writing for Shared, she enjoys listening to podcasts.